Use the welding tools to modify the motor so it is centered on the bicycle pedal’s axle. Before you do this, remove the pedal. Use scaffolding if necessary. Put the motor housing in place by welding a pipe. Make sure the welded material connects the frame section up to the motor housing.
To ensure this homemade wind generator works, double check the motor housing. Make certain the motor is fastened. If it isn’t, the housing will spin along with the axle.

Recycle a motor from a scrap treadmill

Create the Blades

Get the bottles and secure plastic with the zip ties. Set the spokes so the wheel will spin when the wind blows. Make a cut on the bottle (2 inches) in a spiral manner. Punch a hole and set the zip ties here. Put in another zip tie if there are spaces left.
Make sure about 30% of the wheel is covered with the blades.
Slice the blades so they don’t hit anything when they start spinning. With this homemade wind generator, you can take away the rest of the bike’s components; they are not necessary and will only take up space.

Make Plastic Turbine Blades

Mounting the Generator

Position the generator high up. Use the scaffolding or ladder if necessary. A pole is the best option. Now set the wires to the power location. You can use batteries. However they can present problems. Number one, they can overcharge. Secondly, it might run the motor and not get a charge.
If you’re going to use batteries, install a heat sinker so it won’t overcharge. If you’re not sure how to set this up on your homemade wind generator, talk to an electrician. Don’t try installing the batteries if you are unsure.

Tips and Warnings

These treadmill motors can be found in a variety of places. Your best bets are the apartments near colleges. These are usually just placed by the dumpster. You can get one there. The Web is also a good place to look for treadmill motors near you.
Be careful when using welding tools and equipment. Follow all the instructions. If you’re not sure how, have a welder shape the pipes for you. Do not stand near the blades when they’re running.
If you are having trouble mounting the generator, have some of your friends help you. This will prove especially useful if you’re going to use the scaffolding.
If the blades move too fast, they might fly off. Double check to make sure they’re installed properly. Wrongly installed blades won’t just fly off; they might shatter and explode.

These homemade wind generators require more work than most DIY projects. However the payoff can be substantial, so it’s worth giving it a try!

This is great news! But if you already love organic fruit and veg, you probably know this already!

A study conducted by an international team of experts at Newcastle University, has proved that organic crops are up to 60% higher in antioxidants compared to non-organic. This proves once and for all that eco-friendly farming really does improve the nutritional quality of our food.

This is the largest ever study of its kind and shows that there is a substantial nutritional benefit to choosing organic produce rather than food made from conventionally grown crops. The study concluded that by switching to organic fruit and vegetables, the additional antioxidants that you receive is equivalent to eating between 1-2 extra portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

As a result of this extensive study, increased cost may no longer be a reason not to shop pesticide free. With more nutritionally dense fruit, vegetables and cereals, you can end up getting more for your money by switching to organic.

The study also proves that organic crops have significantly lower levels of cadmium, the toxic heavy metal. Like mercury and lead, cadmium can be extremely damaging to people who are repeatedly exposed, even at very low levels.

Raumlabor is from Berlin and specialises in large art installations in unusual media. Amazing! Unless you live next door, maybe! It is actually a building enclosure with the door that can just be seen front and centre; look closely!

Soooo! It is very possible to recycle any of your old furniture into something different and useful, but if you really, really, really have to get shot of it then the most obvious thing is to take it to the tip(recycling centre) or give it to charity. WAIT! You can get money for it!!

£10 Trade-in Offered By Our Little Shop!

Yes! We do want some re-usable furniture to upcycle, recycle into something new and we are prepared to give you £10 back on anything you buy in the shop worth £30 and over! You will love what we have done with some of the items bought in so far… Sewing box, record cabinet, lampshade, coffee table (with damaged top), side table (with loose leg) and more. These have been refurbished or repaired or re-used elsewhere and put up for sale again.
Dont be shy, just come in and find out more, have a look around!

Great Upcycled Sewing Box

Theres always eBay I suppose, but who can be bothered with that hastle! Picture, description, fees, fuss, hastle, bad feedback aarrrghh! I always found that Gumtree is a lot better as it is free, just as popular, and more friendly!

There are still good second-hand furniture dealers in most towns, some offer cash on collection, some will sell your items for a commission, usually about 30%-50% of the sale price. Some useful information on this can be found at Answers

Auction Houses can be a great way to sell more valuable pieces, but it is difficult to know what is in current demand unless you do your research. The auctioneers will normally charge a commission too, but this is around 15%, but also you may have to pay a fee if not sold at some so make sure of the terms before you submit your items. More expert advice and insider information can be found at Antiques Trade Gazette

Come in and see us, show us what you have to trade in and you only need to pick £30 worth of lovely things like: gifts, clothing, furniture, soaps, incence, coffee, chocolate, fairtrade craft, rugs, lighting, cards and glassware.

Beginning our promotion on recycling pallets we have picked some great projects for you to make, if your up to it! The event runs throughout July 2014 at our shop in Torquay Devon UK TQ26EL, and will feature all of these items and more, for you to buy.

1. Large Single Shelf Unit

This is a really simple idea and quite easy to do, but will take a lot of effort with sanding down the wood. You will need a long light weight pallet strengthened across its width by 4×2 timber instead of the usual blocks.

Superbly simple idea and easy to make, these really useful boxes are made up entirely with the wider 14cm planks stripped from common EU pallets.
Make up a box frame with these 14cm planks but you can use the narrower 7cm ones for the base underneath. To make life easy make sure your box width is divisible by 7cm.
Finish off the box by either cutting handles, or attaching odd things to each end, like horse shoes, as featured in the above picture.

3. Stunning Wall Light

How impressive is this? Customise it to your own decor and taste.
It is made by building a support box frame that fixes to the wall with vanity panels either side to hide the electrics. You can then arrange the differing planks to the front in any design you wish. This must be PAT tested for electrical safety before you install though.

4. Standard Braced Garden Gate

These can be expensive items when bought from any hardware store. This one pictured is a design sold at B&Q for £35 but they can certainly cost up to £150!
This is made using 6 or 7 of the narrower 7cm planks spaced for a standard width of 90cm. You will need extra pieces top and bottom, and another mitred for the bracing.

5. Nestbox: Small House for Small Birds

Great looking garden item for attracting Sparrows and Tits to nest in your garden. I think this is probably the most difficult out of the 5 to make as there are different shapes to cut to make it fit together.

Please visit the website used2bee.com regularly to see new recycled products we add every day. You can also get great ideas for recycled arts and crafts on the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/used2bee

A York cyclist outraged by the bad behaviour of his fellow bikers has captured their dangerous moves on a head-cam and created a montage of the incidents (see link below) which include this guy removing his jacket whilst cycling! Also featured are jumping red lights, cutting up motorists and using mobile phones while pedalling. And how many cyclists do you see not wearing safety helmets?

Cycling Top Tip: Always wear a helmet!

Yeah! But….Some cyclists own cars, right?

Dont get me wrong, this is not about blaming cyclists! I love cycling, I own a Giant MTB, its zero carbon and i love riding anywhere i can on it, especially getting off road.
And…get this: the vast majority of cyclists drive cars too, in fact 83% according to the National Travel Survey, but have a preference for using a bike to travel for work and for recreation. If you regularly ride a bike this will probably make you a better, more considerate driver.
Do most drivers automatically assume cyclists dont drive? or understand the rules of the road? Does this attitude lead to incensed road rage aimed at cyclists?

Take cover, here comes the red mist…

Carlton Reid, blogger for BikeBiz.com had this example to give: “Do you have a driving licence?” The driver of the Fiat Punto had taken exception to the fact I had been in front of him at traffic lights, on a bicycle. When he overtook me he asked why I’d blocked him at the lights, and then came out with the driving licence question. We didn’t get into a long conversation (ironically, by slowing to berate me he was blocking all the cars behind him) but, wild stab in the dark here, he probably assumed that my sole means of transport is my bicycle and that a cyclist couldn’t possibly be a motorist as well.

If you cycle daily on the road, i expect you notice the impatience of many people when they get behind the wheel. Impatience that is aimed at all road users, not just bikes, caused by careless acts: cutting in, driving too fast/slow, not indicating or watching traffic lights/signs. Maybe this reaction is worse on the road due to human nature, time pressures, crowd mentality or some other psychology. I would passionately debate that the effect of heavy traffic, busy roads, long delays triggers the ‘fight or flight’ mode causing irrational and unsafe behaviour in many of us…for some cyclists maybe having an accident when no-one else is to blame!

Dont brake too hard in the rain!

Edmund King, president of the AA, often likes to point out that the “two tribes” mentality is corrosive. He cycles and he drives: “Because I work for the UK’s leading motoring organisation, some people assume I must drive everywhere. I don’t. Like many other drivers, I weigh up the options and take the best mode of transport for a particular journey.” Sir Chris Hoy has retired from cycling and taken to racing a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 but he still also cycles around his home city of Edinburgh, on errands no longer for Olympic training. Cyclists and motorists are not from different planets. “Them and us,” in reality, doesn’t exist.

So, should we be looking at ways to help the cyclist become more safe?

Danish design company TNO is working on exterior airbags.

In the Netherlands, where bicycles are ubiquitous, approximately 200 cyclists are killed each year after being struck by a car. If a car is going faster than 25 mph the collision is usually fatal. Suprisingly, helmets don’t help much during an impact of 12 mph or greater.

TNO looked at the impact points at a vehicle’s front end, concluding that automatic braking and external airbags positions at the bottom of the windshield would reduce the severity of crashes dramatically.

Using information from a camera mounted on the rear-view mirror, the system preps for a collision, and deploys an airbag to cushion the rider’s impact on the windshield.

For Volvo drivers this is nothing new, as the V40 (from 2013) already has this feature, but the technology won’t be making its way across to British shores yet.

To help cyclists learn to drive: 6 Top Tips For Modern Road Safety(yep! Drivers too)-

1) Keep your distance and allow time to stop in emergency
2) Be aware of other road users around you
3) Be seen in low light conditions
4) Clear signals
5)Expect the unexpected
6) Keep your cool!

This used to be the addictive catchline of the famously annoying shampoo advert in the 70s -but itchiness can be due to the ingredients rather than the hair type?

Here are the dirty secrets on 7 Ingredients you will find in most supermarket shampoos, conditioners and skin creams…

1) Parabens
Parabens are the most widely used preservatives in personal care products; they stop fungus, bacteria and other microbes from growing in your favourite creams and makeup, especially in the moist, warm environment of a bathroom.
Typically methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben and isobutylparaben have been in use for 70 years now, replacing Formaldehyde.

But over the past few years, a debate has been building that parabens, which have a weak ability to mimic estrogen, have been found in breast cancer tumours in both women and men.

Once found in pretty much every shampoo, SLS help cleanse and foam. Both are derived from coconut oil, but they’re two different ingredients. “They’re similar, but the Laureth goes through an ethoxylation process,” says Pollock. Which means? “Ethoxylation results in a byproduct called 1,4 dioxane—it’s not listed on the label, but that is the cancer-causing aspect of the ingredient. So, avoid any ingredients ending in ‘eth.’ ” Which means you want to avoid ammonium laureth sulfate.

While it used to be found in almost every shampoo, when concerns were raised over the ingredient’s toxicity level, a lot of companies switched over to the ammonium versions—not that it’s much better. Says Pollock, “The sodium and ammonium laureth sulfates are known cancer-causing ingredients.”

So what should you look for instead? Anything with the words “glucose” or “glucoside” in them—for example, sodium lauryl glucose or lauryl glucose.

3) Polysorbates

This solvent or emulsifier helps to bind oil and water together, and is often used to dissolve in the fragrance or other oil additives. And while it’s predominantly found in conditioners, there are some shampoos that carry it, too. But this one’s loaded with trouble for your body.

“It’s damaging at a few levels,” Pollock explains. “The chemical process isn’t one of my favorites, and while some professionals don’t report any real health concern, mine comes from the reaction with the scalp (in haircare products) and the skin (in face and body products) since it often leaves a residue on the skin, disrupts the skin’s natural pH, and emulsifies lipids in the natural protective barrier.”

There are alternatives to using polysorbates, but as Pollock warns, “They’re expensive, so they’re often not used. My favorites are derived from corn: zea mays or maize, often listed as corn water or propanediol.”

4) Glycol

Not all glycol is created equal. It’s a common ingredient in hair and personal care products, but there are different types. Says Pollock, “The more common are polyethylene glycol, often listed as PEG. These, again, are ethoxylated and are cancer-causing chemicals.” It’s used as a solvent to incorporate products into a formula, and they’re extremely dangerous—they’re known carcinogens. So what can we use in their place? “The corn maize-derived solvent listed above,” Pollock suggests.

5) Amodimethicone

That smooth feeling you get when you run your hands through freshly conditioned hair? That’s amodimethicone, a silicone-based polymer used to seal in moisture. But it comes with its own host of troubles.

“Dimethicones and silicones are occlusive, meaning they don’t allow something to breathe—they seal in moisture and seal out everything else,” Pollock notes. “I avoid dimethicones and silicones when possible because I believe the scalp needs to breathe. Sealing the scalp, in my opinion, could lead to thinning of the hair. However, on the hair follicle, it can protect it from heat and provide shine.”

So what should you use instead? Look for natural oils like jojoba, argan, rose hip, sweet almond, olive oil or Shea Butter

6) Hydrolysed Soy Protein

This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a soy-derived protein, including their amino acid compounds—which are essential building blocks. Found in tons of different haircare products, hydrolysed soy protein is thought to nourish and strengthen the hair follicle. But whether it’s problematic for your body or not depends on your constitution.

“Some have a problem with soy,” Pollock admits. “It’s processed, so those with soy allergies wouldn’t necessarily have a problem. Some doctors swear by soy as the key to any diet or part of any healthy lifestyle, while some think you should avoid soy. In this form, I use it and don’t have a problem.”

If you’d rather play it safe, Pollock recommends other hydrolyzed proteins—like rice, vegetable or wheat—as an alternative.

7) Hydrolysed Collagen

Here’s the trick with collagen: It’s a key component to our bodies, but the skin can’t absorb it because the molecule is too large. So while it’s not damaging to your body, any brand claiming to strengthen your hair—like conditioners or hair masks—is just giving you a load of marketing hype. Says Pollock, “The best bet is to get the body to synthesize it, using a peptide, vitamin C or other technology to get the body to synthesize collagen on its own.”

Next time your shopping look at the ingredients

So who are the good guys?

Here is a list of a few less aggressive ingredients that are safe to use next to your skin.

Sodium Chloride

You may be surprised but sodium chloride—found in thousands of shampoos—is just salt used to thicken or trigger thickening capabilities in your shampoo. No need to fret—or search for an alternative.

Cocamidopropyl Betaine

You’ll find this foaming agent—a surfact derived through a chemical process with coconut oil—in shampoo and body washes. In a finished product, it causes no harm to the body, and while there are alternatives, they’re not necessary.

Citric Acid

It’s not just for oranges. This citrus fruit derivative, part of the alpha hydroxyl acid family, can be found in thousands of personal care products—including many in the natural line of care. Typically it’s used to lower the pH balance. And there’s no need to fret—it’s all good for your body, so there’s no healthier alternative needed.

IN SUMMARY THEN..

Avoid Parabens and SLS as they dry the skin and can leave it itchy and sore. Look for Corn or Maize solvents, Glucose, natural oils, Jojoba, Shea Butter and Vitamin C in the ingredients.

Dont forget to visit our website for Organic cleaning and skincare productshttp://www.used2bee.com
Delivery is only £4.95 and free on orders over £30!